The impact of grazing activities and environmental conditions on the stability of alpine grassland ecosystems

Qing Xiang; Huan Yu; Hong Huang; DongMing Yan; ChunZhe Yu; Yun Wang; Zixuan Xiong

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.121176

The impact of grazing activities and environmental conditions on the stability of alpine grassland ecosystems

J Environ Manage. 2024 May 16:360:121176. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.121176. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Qing Xiang¹, Huan Yu², Hong Huang³, DongMing Yan¹, ChunZhe Yu¹, Yun Wang⁴, Zixuan Xiong⁴

Affiliations

¹ College of Geography and Planning, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu, 610059, China.
² College of Geography and Planning, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu, 610059, China; Xizang Geological Environment Monitoring Center, Lhasa, 850000, China. Electronic address: yuhuan0622@126.com.
³ College of Geography and Planning, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu, 610059, China; Research Center for Human Geography of Tibetan Plateau and Its Eastern Slope, Key Research Base of Humanities and Social Sciences of Colleges in Sichuan Province, Chengdu, 610059, China.
⁴ The Third Geodetic Surveying Brigade of MNR, Chengdu, 610199, China.

PMID: 38759547
DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.121176

Abstract

Globally, grazing activities have profound impacts on the structure and function of ecosystems. This study, based on a 20-year MODIS time series dataset, employs remote sensing techniques and the Seasonal-Trend decomposition using Loess (STL) algorithm to quantitatively assess the stability of alpine grassland ecosystems from multiple dimensions, and to reveal the characteristics of grazing activities and environmental conditions on ecosystem stability. The results indicate that only 5.77% of the area remains undisturbed, with most areas experiencing varying degrees of disturbance. Further analysis shows that grazing activities in high vegetation coverage areas are the main source of interference. In areas with concentrated interference, elevation and slope have a positive correlation with resistance stability, but a negative correlation with recovery stability. Precipitation and landscape diversity have positive effects on both resistance stability and recovery stability. Vegetation coverage and grazing intensity have a negative correlation with resistance stability, but a positive correlation with recovery stability. This highlights the complex interactions between human activities, environmental factors, and ecosystem stability. The findings emphasize the need for targeted conservation and management strategies to mitigate disturbances to ecosystems affected by human activities and enhance their stability.

Keywords: Ecosystem stability; Enhanced vegetation index (EVI); Recovery; Seasonal-trend decomposition using loess (STL); Settled grazing.